Listening on Pandora.....
So.....I've been listening on Pandora.com and it is really interesting how things migrate around in there. I don't know if any of you have tried it, but you set up your own "radio station" and tell it a song/group or a couple that you like, and it will search for similar things that you might also like, based on measureable characteristics. (They do not have Mendelssohn listed...)
So, I set up a radio station based on "brian eno" "tangerine dream" and "toy matinee"
It has been an interesting result. Once you start listening, you can say that you like or don't like each individual song. It helps if you let the middle-of-the-road ones just slide, don't specify one way or the other. And you also get some completely unknown artists, which is kind of the point, to find new music that you might like.
It wasn't long before I started seeing other familiar names....Genesis, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, then some Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, eventually I got Ozric Tentacle and Sigur Ros. I could see all that. But I also got some unexpected things. Like the Beatles!
And after I had clicked enough Brian Eno, I was getting a lot of "atmospheric" type
stuff, I guess you would call it. Some of which is absolutely horrible. A couple of New Age type renditions of hymns (NOT) and there are quite a few people out there who do that type of sound really badly. A mindless repetition of a 4 or 5 note fragment until you want to scream. Or such a sickly sweet sound that you must retch. Or so harsh and grinding that you gnaw your arm off to stop the pain. I've decided that very few people can pull that off. My "new" favorite is 'Thursday Afternoon' by Brian Eno. I know that for an hour I won't get anything terrible!!
Anyway. That's what's I've been listening to a work instead of my iPod....
So.....I've been listening on Pandora.com and it is really interesting how things migrate around in there. I don't know if any of you have tried it, but you set up your own "radio station" and tell it a song/group or a couple that you like, and it will search for similar things that you might also like, based on measureable characteristics. (They do not have Mendelssohn listed...)
So, I set up a radio station based on "brian eno" "tangerine dream" and "toy matinee"
It has been an interesting result. Once you start listening, you can say that you like or don't like each individual song. It helps if you let the middle-of-the-road ones just slide, don't specify one way or the other. And you also get some completely unknown artists, which is kind of the point, to find new music that you might like.
It wasn't long before I started seeing other familiar names....Genesis, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, then some Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, eventually I got Ozric Tentacle and Sigur Ros. I could see all that. But I also got some unexpected things. Like the Beatles!
And after I had clicked enough Brian Eno, I was getting a lot of "atmospheric" type
stuff, I guess you would call it. Some of which is absolutely horrible. A couple of New Age type renditions of hymns (NOT) and there are quite a few people out there who do that type of sound really badly. A mindless repetition of a 4 or 5 note fragment until you want to scream. Or such a sickly sweet sound that you must retch. Or so harsh and grinding that you gnaw your arm off to stop the pain. I've decided that very few people can pull that off. My "new" favorite is 'Thursday Afternoon' by Brian Eno. I know that for an hour I won't get anything terrible!!Anyway. That's what's I've been listening to a work instead of my iPod....
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